"Reporting. Currently, Sir Julius and…Lady Emilia's vassal, Sir Subaru Natsuki,
are engaged in mock combat with wasters in the parade square."
"…Eh?"
Upon hearing the guard's report, Emilia's thoughts slipped out in a breathless
whisper.
Stay calm, stay composed, the voice inside her kept saying. She didn't know
what it meant.
"Wh-why would they be doing such a…?! The parade ground, you mean the
knights' building next to the royal palace, right? Julius and Subaru are…brawling
there?"
Emilia could not conceal her bewilderment. The guard, however, could not let
one part go uncorrected.
"Pardon me, but it is a mock combat. It is no brawl arising out of a personal
grudge, but a matter of Sir Julius's honor."
His manner, on the verge of open disrespect, shook Emilia all the more
deeply.
She thought back to the war of words between Subaru and Julius in the
throne room. Neither had a good impression of the other, and if that was the
reason for a private duel…
"Anyway, I need to stop this immediately. Lead me to this parade square…"
Emilia was about to rush off to the square to talk some sense into them when
a high-pitched voice interceded—Anastasia's.
"Ah, I think you oughta let them be."
When Emilia turned, she saw that Anastasia had raised a hand, gathering
attention on her. Having moved from the throne room to a conference room,
the candidates were seated, with their associates at their side.
Naturally, everyone else had heard the report as well. Anastasia continued, "I
want to make sure of somethin'. Who proposed this mock combat?"
The guard replied, "I understand that Sir Julius did. However, because Sir
Subaru Natsuki accepted, we are in the present situation—"
Anastasia gave the guard's reply a generous nod before looking back at
Emilia.
"Ahh, that's fine, that's fine. I just needed to know it was Julius's idea—Since
Julius started it, I'm against stopping it."
Anastasia's reply put her squarely at odds with Emilia.
"Your knight and my…my friend, are clashing. Aren't you worried?"
"Worried? About what? That Julius might go too far and make me pay to heal
your boy?"
Anastasia tilted her head a little as she replied, looking mystified. Emilia was
at a loss for words.
In the half-elf's place, Priscilla poked a small smile out from behind her fan.
"Certainly. From what I saw, he is an incorrigible fool. I imagine he is having
his face rubbed into the dirt for a second time today out of excessive
stubbornness."
Anastasia added, "Perhaps. Back in the hall, he had some nerve. Makes you
wanna look up to him—since someone probably threw him across the room."
The ill-natured smiles the two were trading left Emilia unable to believe her
eyes, her voice quivering.
"D-don't you have anything else to say…?"
But only adding to her shock, Crusch broke her silence and announced her
own opposition to Emilia's view.
"If Emilia's vassal had requested a duel, I would agree that it is correct to stop
them. However, since it is Sir Julius who requested it, and Emilia's vassal who
accepted, I believe stopping them is a mistake."
"Why? I mean, Subaru isn't my…"
"If you do not understand, no explanation shall suffice. Besides, though his
temper was quick, this is a necessary thing."
Crusch cut Emilia off with a strong tone that did not allow further discussion.
Crusch, too, had taken a hard stance that Emilia should not get involved.
The stalled conversation brought a sour expression to Felt's face before she
raised her voice in annoyance. "So why did that guard come to tell us about
this, anyway? I mean, it's one thing if you're gonna report before they start, but
why get all weak-kneed in the middle of it? Just wait for them to finish fighting
and tell us what happened after."
Felt's question, posed with arms crossed and a bad attitude, made the
soldier's face visibly blanch. Marcus, sensing from his demeanor that something
was amiss, stepped in front of his subordinate and broke his silence.
"Report."
"S-sir! I have come to request orders because…the mock duel between Sir
Julius and Sir Subaru Natsuki is excessively one-sided!"
"…What do you mean, one-sided?"
"Sir Julius is surely holding back…but it does not appear that way."
The guard seemed distressed, as if he'd seen such a miserable sight that he
couldn't bring himself to look in Emilia's direction. That announced to all
present just what a terrible spectacle was occurring.
That news was the last straw for Emilia, who threw her indecision to the wind
and rushed out of the room.
"I have to stop them…!"
She ran down the corridor toward the knights' garrison and the parade square
within.
Once Emilia left, the room seemed on the brink of an uproar when Al raised
his hand and suggested, "So, how 'bout we follow the lady and take a look,
too?" he motioned toward the open door and shrugged his shoulder to Priscilla,
standing beside him. "You like this sort of thing, right, Princess? Watching a
ferocious beast toy with a weak critter."
Priscilla lightly turned her back away from him as her charming laughter
shook her bountiful breasts.
"Do not cast aspersions upon me with your petty delusions, Al. Well, I do
enjoy it… Very well. I wanted a break from this dreadfully long-winded talk,
anyway. Looking down upon a variety of fools and laughing at them is good for
the soul."
The haggard guard broke out in an icy sweat as Priscilla thrust the tip of her
fan toward him.
"Lead us to this parade square—I command it."